


All I've Ever Needed

by themorewedance



Category: Call the Midwife
Genre: F/M, Season 6 Spoilers, Turnadette - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-24
Updated: 2017-01-24
Packaged: 2018-09-19 18:26:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,298
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9454736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themorewedance/pseuds/themorewedance
Summary: *season 6 spoilers* Shelagh and Patrick share the happy news with their kids





	

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back! Something about this show really makes me want to write all the time. This story was a lot longer and lot more emotional than I planned? but once I started I couldn't stop... hope you enjoy! Please let me know if you do! :)

Shelagh’s stomach had been churning all day. Not from the pregnancy, but from the sheer nervousness of telling her children tonight that she was miraculously expecting a child. She sat at her little desk in the antenatal clinic mulling over hundreds of different scenarios of the situation. She was lost in thought when Patrick came strolling over to her, kneeling down beside her on one knee. He delicately placed a hand her on her shoulder and Shelagh jolted back to the real world. Patrick didn’t even have to say anything to her; the concerned look on his face was enough for Shelagh to know what he was thinking.

“I’m feeling fine, dear. I’m just… nervous to tell the kids the news tonight.” She whispered, trying not to let the whole clinic hear the news. They had decided to keep the pregnancy for a secret for a little while longer, per Shelagh’s request, in case she lost the baby, and they especially didn’t want all of Poplar knowing the news until their children did.

“They’re going to be elated to have another baby brother or sister. You know how much Tim loves looking after Angela.” Shelagh nodded her head, reaching for her glass of water. Patrick kissed her on the forehead before getting up to see another patient. Before he left her, he bent down and whispered in her ear.

“I’ll see you tonight, my love. It’ll be fine.” With that, he disappeared behind a curtain, leaving Shelagh with her thoughts again. She kept her eyes focused on the clock and watched the minutes slowly pass by, dreading when it would be time for her to go home.

 

* * *

 

Patrick had made it through dinner without blabbering the news to the kids, constantly filling lulls in the conversation with information about articles he had read in medical journals so that he wouldn’t accidentally spill the secrets. Shelagh sat quietly, petrified for what was to come. She could barely touch her food, and she moved the food around the plate with her fork. Timothy rose from the table after the meal and began clearing away dishes. Patrick picked up Angela from her chair with one arm, and took Shelagh’s hand in the other, guiding her to the couch. She sat down and caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror above the fireplace. She fixed hairs that were out of place and smoothed her dress, her hand fixating for a moment on her stomach. She tried to take deep breaths to calm her nerves. Patrick sat down next to her on the couch, shifting Angela onto his lap. Shelagh could see that he too was starting to get nervous for what was to come, but his bright smile never faded. Timothy grabbed the latest copy of the Lancet from the coffee table and sat down opposite of them, unaware of nervous aura in the room.

“Timothy, could you put that down a moment? Your mum and I want to talk to you about something.” Timothy slowly returned the magazine to the table, a look of concern on his face.

“Have I done something wrong? Are you sick again?” Shelagh could see the gears turning in Timothy’s head as he imagined all the possible worst case scenarios.

“It’s nothing bad, darling, don’t worry.” Shelagh forced herself to speak, her trembling voice coming out much softer than expected.

“Timothy, Angela….” Patrick was at a loss for words. Shelagh couldn’t decide whether to be up front about it, or to ease into the situation. She looked between her struggling husband and her worried son and suddenly she couldn’t bear to keep it in anymore.

“I’m expecting.” She quickly blurted out. Patrick looked down at his wife with wide eyes, surprised at her sudden impulsivity.

“Expecting?” Timothy asked, perplexed. “Expecting what?” He looked between his parents, searching for an answer. The prospect of her conceiving a child was so far gone that he didn’t even put the pieces together.

“A child, Timothy. You and Angela are going to have a new baby brother or sister!” Patrick said jovially. Shelagh placed her hands on her stomach, a bump not yet showing on her tiny figure. Angela sprung up from Patrick’s lap.

“Mummy baby?” She jumped up and down excitedly, as Patrick confirmed the news.

“Yes darling! Mummy is going to have a baby! Are you excited?” Angela flung herself in Patrick’s arms, crying out happily. Shelagh smiled down at her excited daughter and her heart fluttered. She looked at Patrick and immediately let out a sigh of relief. The husband and wife turned to look at their son, who remained quiet. A look of shock and disbelief was drawn across his face.

“How do you feel about the news, Timothy?” Patrick asked his son, disappointed that he hadn’t reacted like Angela had. Without saying a word, Timothy rose from his chair and stormed off, his feet sounding like elephants as he stomped up the stairs. In the distance, they heard Timothy’s door slam. Shelagh quickly looked at Patrick, her bright smile faltering and her eyes filling with tears. Patrick was in shock, and the two of them sat in silence for a moment. In the background, Angela still bounced about the room, rejoicing about her new baby sibling.

“I’ll go talk to him, Shelagh.” He started to get up from the couch, but Shelagh stopped him.

“No, I’ll go. I think this is something I should do.” Patrick agreed and sat back down, giving his wife a quick kiss before she made her way upstairs.

Shelagh knocked lightly on Timothy’s door.

“Timothy… can I please come in?” It was quiet for a moment before Shelagh heard a quiet “fine” muttered from behind the door. She slowly opened the door, to reveal Timothy sitting on his bed, arms folded across his chest. Shelagh approached the bed and sat down next to her son. The two sat in awkward silence for a while, as Shelagh put her thoughts together.

“I’ve been nervous about telling you, ever since I found out about the baby. I still can’t even believe it’s really happening. Having a child was impossible, or so we thought. When I started feeling ill when we returned from South Africa, pregnancy was the last thought that crossed my mind. I figured it was my stomach getting used to London food again. But when I realized I was only sick in the morning…” Her voice tapered off as she struggled to find the next words, and she glanced over at Timothy to gauge how he was feeling with the conversation. His face remained stoic, staring straight ahead of him. Shelagh let out a deep sigh before continuing to speak.

“A few months after your father and I got married, I thought I had conceived. I was sure of it. I nervously waited for the test results, so excited about the possibility of having a child. But the test came back negative, and I knew something was wrong. Your father took me to get that exploratory procedure, and they told me I would never be able to have a child. I don’t know if you remember, or even noticed it at the time but… I was crushed. I felt like I was being punished for leaving the order. I thought it was God’s way of punishing me for falling in love. It was not a good time for me, for your dad and I. I had never wanted anything more than to have my own child and then to have that dream torn away from me…” Shelagh’s could feel her throat begin to close and tears come to her eyes as she remembered that dark period of time. She recalled the many consecutive nights where she would fall asleep in Patrick’s arms, him stroking her hair as she cried herself to sleep, or the nights where she didn’t sleep at all, praying all night long. Shelagh, realizing she was probably digging herself a deeper whole with her stepson, quickly pulled herself together, taking a few slow deep breaths. She played with her fingers in her lap to control her nerves.

“Anyways… it was a hard time, but I got through it. I realized that I didn’t need a child of my own to be a mother, because of you. I used to practically melt when you started to call me ‘Mum.’ I loved you so much, and you have no idea how much you helped me through that time. You’re the perfect son, Timothy.” Shelagh reached down with one hand and placed it down on Timothy’s hand. Timothy looked down at his lap, his stoic expression slowly fading. Shelagh took this as a good sign.

“Adoption wasn’t even on my radar until I met your friend’s mom, and she told me that they had adopted him. Your dad and I realized that we wanted our family to grow, and by adopting we would give a beautiful life to a child that otherwise wouldn’t have had that chance. Of course, the adoption had it’s own problems. But your dad and I matured as husband and wife from that experience, and our family grew. And then we adopted Angela, and nothing has ever felt so right. Our family was, and is, perfect. Any thought of giving birth to a child was completely gone. I’ve never been happier or more content in my whole life. You and Angela… you’re everything. I couldn’t want anything more.” Shelagh gave Timothy’s hand a squeeze, when he suddenly jumped up from his bed, startling her.

“If you don’t want anything more, than why have another child? You always said that you didn’t need to bear a child to be a mother but you still kept trying. Clearly you were lying just to make me feel better. You were lying the whole time, Ang and I weren’t enough for you.” Timothy snapped at Shelagh, and her heart broke. Tears flooded Timothy’s eyes and he turned his back to her so she wouldn’t see him crying. Shelagh, who was now crying tears of her own, was trying to figure out what she could possibly say next.

“Timothy… I would never, ever lie to you. Any thought of having a child was gone. Please believe me, you and Angela are all I’ve ever needed, and all I’ve ever wanted.” She got up from the bed now and approached her son, standing in front of him. She took his hands in hers and squeezed them tight. He could barely make eye contact with her, tears streaming down his face.

“Your dad and I were not trying to have another baby, I promise you that. We are just a husband and wife who love each other and… sometimes feel the need to express that love… physically.” Shelagh could feel her face blush; this was not how she expected the conversation to go.  

“Gross… please I don’t want to picture that.” Timothy’s face grimaced at what Shelagh was implying.

“My point is, Tim, that sometimes babies can be… surprises. And in this case, it was truly a surprise. Like I said, I thought I was sick because my stomach wasn’t used to London food anymore.” She chuckled at how awkward this conversation had gotten, and she finally got a laugh out of Timothy. He wiped away his tears and sat back down on the bed, and Shelagh quickly joined him.

“I love you Tim, and I love Angela, so very much. I love you two with all my heart. I didn’t think I could love someone as much as I love you and your sister.”

“What about Dad?” Timothy asked playfully. The mother and son giggled, and Shelagh whispered,

“Don’t tell him I said that.” Timothy smiled for the first time since Shelagh had told him the news, and she felt at ease.

“Are you happy, Mum? About the baby?” Tim asked her, and Shelagh didn’t know what to say at first.

“I am, I’m very happy. This little baby is a complete miracle. But to be honest, I’m more afraid that anything else right now. We don’t know how this pregnancy will turn out, or how high risk it is. I feel like I’m going to be in a constant state of uncertainty until this baby comes out. Your father and I going to become complete lunatics.” Timothy wrapped his arms around Shelagh, pulling the tiny woman into a hug.

“If God gave you this miracle, I’m sure it will be okay. But just to be sure, I’ll read every medical journal about TB and pregnancy I can find until the baby is due.”

“Thank you, Timothy.” Shelagh kissed her son on the forehead, and the two sat in silence for quite some time, still embracing. After a while, there was a small knock on the door, and Patrick and Angela poked their heads in.

“How’s it going in here?” The two joined Shelagh and Timothy on the bed.

“I’m excited about the baby, Dad. I can’t wait to have another baby brother or sister… but hopefully brother this time.” Patrick beamed down at his wife and son, telepathically thanking Shelagh for talking to Timothy. Angela crawled into Shelagh’s lap and placed her hand on her mother’s stomach.

“Baby here?” She asked her mother.

“Yes, sweetheart. Baby is right here.” She placed her hand on top of Angela’s little hand.

“Hey Mum, how come you aren’t showing yet?” Timothy inquired, noticing how small his mother’s stomach still was.

“Well it’s still early, I’m only about a month along.” She replied to him, and she noticed Timothy doing the math in his head. A few seconds later, Timothy grimaced again and said,

“You and Dad are never going to South Africa again.”

**Author's Note:**

> feel free to find me on tumblr @nurse-franklin :)


End file.
